It baffles me that something as important as parental controls isn't built into Android and that Google's solution for the problem, Family Link, was only officially released last year and is still limited to countries you can count on one hand: US, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and now Canada is joining the fold. There must be a legal or technical limitation why this isn't enabled worldwide, but I can't for the life of me guess what it is.

But I digress. If you're a parent in Canada with children under the age of 13, you can now manage their Android device, account, and usage through Family Link. The option is rolling out this week so you should be able to get it set up soon if you have an Android 4.4+ device and your child's phone is running Android 7.0+ (with a few exceptions for 6.0 devices). The process is pretty straightforward and you can see all the different steps between your device and your child's in our hands-on with Family Link.

Once set up, Family Link lets you approve your child's app purchases from your device or theirs, monitor their screen time usage and set limits for daytime and bedtime use, hide inappropriate content in Chrome, check their location and ring their phone, and more. Technically, you should also be able to add their voice to Google Home through the Family Link app (follow the instructions here) so that they get age-appropriate results when they talk to your smart speakers.

To get started, grab the Family Link app from the widget below and set up your child's account first then follow the steps to get everything rolling. You can read more about Family Link and consult the FAQ at its dedicated page.

This is awesome! It means that Google tries to bring it to all posts of the world, slowly but steadily!

LCDShadrach

I set up Family Link for my son. Overall, it's great, but that major issue I have with it is that the parent does not have the ultimate say on which apps are allowed, Google does. For example, Google has deemed the standard YouTube app to be an "adult" app (as compared to the YouTube Kids app) and will in no way allow that app to be installed. Personally, I find the YT Kids app to be garbage and I'd like the final say if it's OK for my son to install the standard YT app. Google should give parents complete freedom to restrict apps/content or not, as they see fit.

Before someone says something negative about this - if I could move all my Google stuff over to a regular Gmail account, I would. But, at this point there's nothing I can really do. I don't want a split account with Gmail/my domain where half my purchases are on one email, the rest are on the other. If Google had a way to migrate EVERYTHING from a Gapps account to regular Google account, I would.

Paulo

DinnerTime Plus does all of this in an easy to use app on any device. 3 kids with five devices all controlled and monitored from my phone and my wife's phone. Solves the Google Suite problem.